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6 days ago
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Josh Hazlewood of Royal Challengers Bengaluru celebrates the wicket of Josh Inglis of Punjab Kings during the qualifier 1 match at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur. (Sportzpics)
Royal Challengers and Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood said that the time he spends on the field for RCB will hold him in good stead when he joins his national side for the World Test Championship final against South Africa, set to take place at Lords from June 11. Hazlewood, who had not played for RCB for one month due to a shoulder injury, showed that he did not lose a step when he took 3 wickets against Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1, helping RCB reach the IPL final.
“…I’ve got to be bowling, you know wherever I am in the world, I’ve got to be bowling getting ready for that game (WTC final) anyway. There’s no better place than I think out in the middle, obviously you’ve got to bowl more, more hours of training from time to time to build up for a Test, but to get that intensity right up, there’s no better place than the IPL,” he said.
Hazlewood has been one of the brightest sparks in RCB’s IPL campaign, having snapped up 21 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 15.80.
“(I have) worked really hard the last few weeks on the shoulders to get back and got some good overs into it the last sort of 10 days, and yeah it is feeling good to be back…So, I was happy with tonight, the wicket helped obviously didn’t it? Not having to bowl fast yorkers or anything like that. So yeah it is feeling good to be back,” the Aussie said.
In Thursday’s match, RCB defeated PBKS by eight wickets in Qualifier 1 to enter the final of the Indian Premier League. RCB bowlers justified skipper Rajat Patidar’s decision to field first by packing off PBKS for a paltry 101 in just 14.1 overs. Marcus Stoinis was top-scorer with 26.
Young leg-spinner Suyash Sharma (3/17) did the star turn for RCB by picking up three wickets while pacers Hazlewood (3/21), Yash Dayal (2/26) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/17) left PBKS reeling at 50 for five in the seventh over.
In reply, RCB romped home, scoring 106 for 2 in 10 overs with Philip Salt scoring 27-ball 56.
English (US) ·